City experiences 8 hours of power outages despite Eid

Citizens faced six to eight hours of power shutdown despite a tremendous decrease in power consumption because of Eid holidays, Pakistan Today learnt on Sunday. According to details, the power was closed at repeated intervals and citizens faced problems in performing routine tasks. Consumers showed surprise over continuous power outages claiming the demand had dropped drastically because of Eid holidays. “All the business malls, offices, banks, institutions, industries and business centres are closed, still there is a power closure of six hours,” said a consumer Akhter Hussain. According to Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO), the power demand on Saturday remained 16,555MW while generation was 13,397MW, thus the shortfall of 3,158MW required load management. Statistics showed that 16,500MW was a peak day’s demand with mercury reaching above 40 degrees Celcius and all offices, institutions and industries operational. Hence PEPCO’s claim was surprising under the current situation where neither offices nor industrial sector was working. A Power Ministry official said: “PEPCO never tells the true power demand and often forges figures. How is it possible that on a holiday, the power demand is more than 16,500MW?” The official said the authorities concerned should take notice of PEPCO officials’ non-serious attitude. Meanwhile, the electricity was suspended for one hour after every three or four hours. The power was closed for six hours in urban areas and for eight hours in rural areas.